“When there’s talk about chopping down this statue, which is our gift to this city, we react,” State Sen. Diane Savino said.

Critics of Columbus say he was a ruthless explorer who treated indigenous people abhorrently. Some of his defenders have noted his importance to Italian heritage, while others have decried what they see as overreaching by activists trying to erase history.

Columbus Statue Statue Fight Heats Up

Organizers of one Columbus Day Parade in New York City have uninvited Mayor de Blasio after he ordered a review of controversial statues in the city -- including several Columbus statues. Rana Novini reports.

(Published Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017)

Three mayoral candidates were at the parade defending the statue in Columbus Circle.

Republican mayoral candidates Nicole Malliotakis said: “We cannot forget that Christopher Columbus was the one who connected two sides of the world.” She said the explorer “represents the immigrant experience.”

Bo Dietl, the independent candidate and former NYPD detective, wore a t-shirt to the parade that read, “Leave the statue alone.”

“This is our identity. And to take the identity of Italian Americans away is ridiculous,” he said.

Sal Albanese, who lost to de Blasio in the Democratic primary, didn’t come to the defense of Columbus but said the statue should stay.

“Columbus was controversial and he had his dark side, as many figures in history, but taking the statue down will cause a lot of division,” Albanese said.

Vandals Hit Columbus Statue in Central Park

A famous sculpture of Christopher Columbus that has stood in Central Park for more than a century has been vandalized, the latest in a series of such incidents involving statues of the explorer in the city and across the country. Ida Siegal reports.

(Published Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017)

De Blasio’s office sent a statement to NBC 4, saying there are no plans to remove the statue of Columbus, which has been under 24-hour police guard ahead of the controversial holiday.

The mayor will march in the Columbus Day Parade along Fifth Avenue, while the commission he set up to review statues will hold its first meeting later this week.